Only Heavy Metal

2018-02-22 - AMORPHIS have finally finished recording their upcoming new studio album, entitled »Queen Of Time«. The record is scheduled for a May 18th release, via Nuclear Blast. In comparison to its predecessor, »Under The Red Cloud« (2015), the album will include the use of real strings, flutes, orchestral arrangements and even choirs! In addition, this will be the first time that people will be able to hear their lyricist Pekka Kainulainen on the album as he contributes a speech in Finnish.

Today, the band unveils some more details on the production, the album title, the album cover and on working with their new/old bassist Olli-Pekka Laine.

The album was once again produced by the famous Jens Bogren (OPETH, AMON AMARTH, KREATOR, and many others), who is well-known for challenging, and motivating, the artists during the recording process. He isn’t afraid to push them to their limits!

Esa comments: "I guess »Queen Of Time« turned out as a massive surprise to all of us. During the rehearsing and pre-production we didn’t have any idea that Jens had this huge picture inside of his head about the landscape of the album. It’s a very natural continuation to »Under The Red Cloud« but with steroids. The songs are more aggressive but there’s more dynamics, harmonies and orchestral arrangements present. The result is AMORPHIS as something you’ve never heard before! Essentially, working with Jens worked really well. As a person he is very similar to us - we share the same kind of weird humor and we all like to work hard."

The cover artwork, which was created once again by French artist Jean ”Valnoir” Simoulin from Metastazis, captures the feeling of the lyrics and the music. With Pekka Kainulainen's (lyricist) words, the lyrical theme is universal: “Cultures rise, flourish, and are destroyed. The story of man is the story of searching, finding, and forgetting. A single spark can set the world afire, a single idea can give birth to a new culture. The greatest can stagnate into insignificance, the smallest can hold the power for change. The lyrics on this album are distant echoes of ancient forest peoples, from a time when meaning was proportioned by the cosmic forces that govern birth and death. If the connection was lost, they sought for a strand of knowledge, found a new direction, and a new age began.”

»Queen Of Time« will be also the first album with their old/new bass player Olli-Pekka 'Oppu' Laine following the departure of Niclas Etelävuori in 2017. Oppu was one of the founding members in 1990 and recorded the first seven records with AMORPHIS (»The Karelian Isthmus« LP, 1992; »Privilege Of Evil« EP, 1993; »Tales From The Thousand Lakes« LP, 1994; »Black Winter Day« EP, 1995; »Elegy« LP, 1996; »My Kantele« EP, 1997 and the »Tuonela« LP, 1999) before he parted ways with the band in spring 2000.

"To be honest, 'Oppu' was the only guy we could imagine being in AMORPHIS. It was funny - when we started to play our first shows together again last summer it all felt so familiar. He was involved with arranging songs and he also even brought some new songs to the table… really good ones, too!" says Esa. And Oppu adds: "Even though the last year with AMORPHIS has been exciting, nostalgic and fun, it's also been truly comfortable to be with the guys again. As a clichéd expression, it's been like returning home from a lenghty odyssey. After eighteen years, it feels like we are picking up where we left off from the good ol' days! I'm really looking forward for the upcoming tour. The new album itself is a really strong package, the only hard thing will be picking which songs to play live! It’s safe to say we are set to pull off some killer shows over the next few years. After that, I'm predicting a long and fruitful career for the band in its current form..."

The band will soon kick off pre-orders for »Queen Of Time« and release their first single, so stay tuned!

AMORPHIS - release „Brothers & Sisters“ lyric video and shaped vinyl single!
AMORPHIS - release shaped vinyl single! - 2021-01-29

2021-01-29 - Today, AMORPHIS releases their shaped vinyl single "Brother And Sister", limited to 666 copies via Nuclear Blast. The band have also revealed a new lyric video for the song 'Brother And Sister' that you can watch here: https://youtu.be/zH8u_BmGysc

AMORPHIS - announce "Live At Helsinki Ice Hall", kick off pre-order and reveal video!
AMORPHIS - announce live album! - 2021-03-19

2021-03-19 - While concerts and cheering crowds seem to be a long lost echo from the past these days, melancholic progressive metallers AMORPHIS bring back some of the life and uncomparable energy that many of us have been missing so desperately. Recorded during a special hometown show that took place on December 7th, 2019, little did the Finns know that this would be one of their last concerts before the pandemic outbreak in early 2020. With 15 tracks in total and a running time of over one and a half hours, AMORPHIS take you on a journey through their past, showcasing their best songs from the last 30 years that saw the band turn into one of Finland's finest metal exports.

"Helsinki Ice Hall, what can I say... the very same venue where we used to see bands like Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Metallica and many many more back in the 80’s when we were kids”, Tomi Koivusaari contemplates when thinking of the show. “I’m sure we all dreamed about playing there someday. In our hometown Helsinki, where it all started with AMORPHIS 30 years ago. So I’d say we had a special feeling at that gig, the last one of the tour in Finland for that year. I guess this recording is a very honest picture of us playing live, nothing is fixed afterwards, except mightily mixed and mastered of course. When I listened to it a while ago, I realized how much I miss playing live. And yet we have no idea when it will be possible next, in this crazy situation with Covid and all... So, stay healthy, take care and shine on you all, see you hopefully soon on tour. We will."

With the captivating live anthem "Daughter Of Hate", one of Finland's greatest exports deliver the first excerpt of their upcoming "Live At Helsinki Ice Hall". Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/cxgn3lEWnTI

"Live At Helsinki Ice Hall" will be available as 2CD digipak and download/stream. The 2LP version of this show is exclusively available in the "Vinyl Collection 2006 – 2020" boxset, also out on May 21st.

NEW ALBUM!
We are excited to announce that new AMORPHIS album, "Halo", will be released on February 11th, 2022 on Atomic Fire Records and contain the following songs:

“It really is a great feeling that we can still produce very decent music as a band,” says Esa Holopainen. “Perhaps a certain kind of self-criticism and long experience culminate in these latest albums.” To the songwriter himself, “Halo” sounds both familiar and different. “It is thoroughly recognizable Amorphis from beginning to end but the general atmosphere is a little bit heavier and more progressive and also organic compared to its predecessor,” he elaborates.
Tomi Joutsen adds, “To me, ‘Halo’ sounds a little more stripped down compared to ‘Queen Of Time’ and ‘Under The Red Cloud.’ However, don’t get me wrong: when a certain song needs to sound big, then it sounds very big.”
That’s of course also thanks to producing renaissance man Jens Bogren who harvested the thirteen final tracks from a batch of thirty songs AMORPHIS offered him. “Jens is very demanding, but I really like to work with him,” says Holopainen. “He takes care of the whole project from start to finish, and he allows the musician to focus on just playing. I may not be able to thank Jens enough. Everything we’ve done together has been really great, and this co-operation has carried Amorphis significantly forward.”
No AMORPHIS album would be complete without the imaginative and poetic storytelling of renowned lyricist and “Kalevala” expert Artist Pekka Kainulainen. “From day one, Pekka has always been an enthusiastic and prolific lyricist for Amorphis,” says Joutsen. “It is a slow process of translating archaic Finnish poetry into English and adapting it to our progressive rhythms. Fortunately, Pekka does everything on time and with great care.”
”’Halo’ is a loose themed record filled with adventurous tales about the mythical North tens of thousands of years ago,” Kainulainen explains. “The lyrics tell of an ancient time when man wandered to these abandoned boreal frontiers after the ice age. While describing the revival of a seminal culture in a world of new opportunities, I also try to reach the sempiternal forces of the human mind.”
Stay tuned for more details!